Politician makes history by breastfeeding newborn daughter in parliament

According to local news, 11 weeks old, tiny Alia Joy is blissfully unaware that she has made political history .
The daughter of Australian politician Larissa Waters became the first baby to be breastfed in parliament.

The Australian Greens co-deputy leader returned to the Senate for the first time since giving birth to her second child earlier this year.

The 40-year-old proudly breastfed her youngest daughter during a vote in the chamber on Tuesday.
She later tweeted: "So proud that my daughter Alia is the first baby to be breastfed in the federal Parliament! We need more #women & parents in Parli"

She also shared an image of Australian MP Kirstie Marshall, who was ejected from the Victorian Parliament in 2003 for breastfeeding her 11-day-old daughter, Charlotte.

Similarly, fellow Greens MP Sarah Hanson-Young hit the headlines in 2009 when her two-year-old daughter Kora was taken from her arms and removed from the Senate chamber.

Katy Gallagher, a Labor frontbencher in the Australian parliament, said Waters' breakthrough breastfeeding milestone was a moment that deserved to be acknowledged.

She told Sky News: "Women have been doing it in parliaments around the world ... It is great to see it is able to occur now in the Senate.

"Women are going to continue to have babies and if they want to do their job and be at work and look after their baby ... the reality is we are going to have to accommodate that."

Last year, Senator Waters instigated changes extending rules that already allowed breastfeeding in the chamber to allow new mums and dads to briefly care for their infants on the floor of parliament.

The House of Representatives has made similar changes.